Origin: Savoonga, St. Lawrence Island, AK
Culture: St. Lawrence Island Yupik
Also spelled Nungwuk and Nunguk.
Edwin Noongwook was born July 29th, 1975 in Savoonga. He learned carving from the village elders, especially the use of tools. He enjoys both bone and ivory carvings, but is particularly skilled in ivory. He is a versatile carver, exploring many subjects from polar bears to walruses, but it in is his figures that he captures the core activities of the Yupik culture. His dancers, hunters and fisherman are done in his signature simple yet expressive technique. The subtlety in this work is especially graceful and poignant as he takes traditional activities and materials and transforms them into pieces that are saturated with his culture, yet are distinctly true pieces of contemporary art.
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